Chapter 3Once Wanted to Be With Him Forever

Jade POV

I barely hesitated, raising my hand and slapping her back. "If it weren't for you, would he have been punished? What right do you have to question me for not pleading for him?"

Unexpectedly, Isabella was stunned that I'd hit her back, then became even angrier.

"Jade, Julian has been so good to you these past few years. Is this how you repay him?"

"What do you want me to do?"

I wanted to plead for him, but he willingly accepted the punishment for the daughter of the woman who killed his own father.

How could I possibly utter a single word of appeal?

Isabella accused me furiously. "I never realized you were so cold-blooded. You don't deserve to be with him!"

I sneered. "I don't deserve to be with him, but you, the daughter of his enemy, do?"

"Enough!"

Julian had woken up at some point.

Isabella's eyes immediately welled up, and she burst into tears, throwing herself into his arms. "Julian, you're finally awake! Do you know how much you scared me?"

Julian gently patted her back, his voice soft and low. "Did my mom bother you again?"

Isabella shook her head, still crying. "After you accepted the punishment, Mrs. Hayes had her people release me."

Julian let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."

Mrs. Hayes must have released Isabella because she didn't want to completely alienate her only son and heir for her sake.

Julian allowed Isabella to cling to his battered body. The scene looked like a loving couple, while I felt like an outsider, out of place and unwelcome.

A heavy, suffocating feeling settled in my chest, and I felt a piercing, burning pain from the Datura tattoo on my ankle.

So I quietly turned and left the hospital room.

Julian stayed in the hospital for several days, and Isabella remained by his side for all of them.

I knew better than to intrude on them at the hospital.

I hired a nurse and had Maria deliver his meals three times a day. Maria also updated me on his recovery.

One day, while I was engrossed in my sketches, Mrs. Hayes called.

Mrs. Hayes asked about the baby.

"The doctor said everything's fine, no issues."

"You need to make sure you're getting enough nutrition. Let me know immediately if anything changes."

"Okay."

Mrs. Hayes was silent for a moment. "Julian is being discharged today. Aren't you going to pick him up?"

My gaze fell, and the tattoo on my ankle seemed to throb faintly again.

I pressed my lips together. "With Isabella there, I'd just be in the way. Besides, we're getting divorced soon."

Mrs. Hayes sighed. "Jade, I've seen your and Julian's feelings for each other over these years. If you're willing to stay by his side, I can assure you, no one will be able to touch your position as Mrs. Hayes."

But no one could guarantee that Julian's heart wouldn't belong to Isabella.

"Mrs. Hayes, our original agreement was simply for me to bear his child, take the money, and leave. That's all."

To the world, I called her "Mom."

In private, I maintained a wall of polite distance-she remained "Mrs. Hayes."

I used the formality as a mantra, a reminder: This began as a transaction. Don't get lost in the role.

But after five years, I had gotten lost. Profoundly so. I had begun to imagine a real life, a real future with him.

No one knew that my agreement with Mrs. Hayes wasn't just about the money.

I had actually met Julian when I was very young.

Many years ago, he'd taken up residence in my heart.

But as it turned out, what wasn't mine would never truly be mine.

After hanging up with Mrs. Hayes, I put down my pen and drove out of the villa.

I found a tattoo parlor on the side of the road.

The owner looked at the tattoo on my ankle. "This flower is beautifully and carefully done. Are you sure you want to remove it?"

I said flatly, "Remove it."

"Alright. It's going to hurt a bit, so bear with it."

I looked at the tattoo on my ankle.

Julian had learned the art for me, etching a black datura onto my skin himself during our first married year.

He'd asked what I wanted.

I'd said a black datura.

Julian had looked puzzled. "Why this flower? Does it mean something to you?"

I'd smiled. "No. I just like it."

He never knew its meaning: a wandering love, a desperate passion that sees its own end clearly.

Just like my love for him.

Now the dream was over.

My love for him was fading, wilting like the datura blossom vanishing from my skin.

I left the tattoo parlor, the ghost of the needle's sting still on my arm. I hadn't even reached my car when a Bentley glided to the curb. The door opened, and Julian stepped out.

He looked quite surprised. "Jade? What are you doing here?"